Iowa City Uber driver charged with sexually assaulting woman who called for ride home from downtown

IOWA CITY - An Iowa City Uber driver faces charges stemming from an incident last October, during which he sexually assaulted a passenger, according to police.

A woman had ordered an Uber to drive her from downtown Iowa City to her home on Grant Street on Oct. 7, according to a police report.

Police say the woman sat in the front passenger seat of the Uber driven by Ali Alsheik, 37, of Iowa City. Rather than drive her directly home, Alsheik took an indirect route and stopped along the way, according to police. Citing Uber records and GPS information, police said the drive took 29 minutes rather than eight, as is typical.

During the trip, police say Alsheik forcibly sexually assaulted the woman against her will. The woman went to the hospital for examination within hours of the assault and had a sexual assault kit completed, according to police.

Upon being located, Alsheik denied having any type of sexual contact with the woman and blamed the woman for attempting to initiate sexual contact with him, according to police. Alsheik told police he refused her sexual advances and only drove her home, according to the report.

DNA evidence from Alsheik's penis matched the DNR profile of the woman, and DNA gathered from the front passenger seat of Alsheik's vehicle showed a mixture of DNA from him and the woman.

Alsheik was charged with third degree sexual abuse, a Class C felony.

Uber permantly removed Alsheik's access immediately after this was reported to the company in October, and Uber has been cooperating with police, said Kayla Whaling, an Uber spokeswoman.

'What's been described to police has no place on the Uber app or anywhere,” Whaling said.

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